Police Thwart Would-be Looters In Central Florida

September 7, 2004|By Amy C. Rippel The Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO — Two men who were among a group suspected of using a stolen car to smash through a clothing-store window were the latest in more than a dozen arrests on looting charges in central Florida during the weekend.

Statewide, another 11 or so suspected looters were arrested during Hurricane Frances, authorities said.

Law-enforcement officials said many of the brazen looting attempts were thwarted.

In one incident, a man who was later found to have burglary tools tried to hide from officers by ducking into what he thought was a trash can at an Orlando restaurant, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. Instead, he wound up in a vat of grease.

In another, two men were charged with looting after authorities said they tried to break into Ascension Catholic Church in Melbourne.

The Sheriff's Office said 10 men used a stolen Honda to break into JJ Men's Wear on Hiawassee Road at about 3:40 a.m. Sunday. The men scattered, but two were arrested on charges of burglary and grand theft, Chief Steve Jones said.

The group also is suspected in a 2:30 a.m. Sunday break-in at another clothing store on Americana Boulevard, Jones said.

Deputies recovered about $10,000 in stolen clothes, Jones said.

About 4:30 a.m. Sunday, a security guard at Orlando Ale House on University Boulevard chased a suspicious person. The suspect dropped a bag of burglary tools, jumped a fence and tried to hide in what he thought was a trash bin, Jones said. Instead, he landed in a grease vat.

John DeWitt, 18, was being held at the Orange County Jail without bail on burglary and curfew-violation charges.

"He gets the `slick criminal of the day' award," Jones said. I guess he thought it was a little Dumpster.

At the Sacks Grocery Outlet at 6013 Edgewater Drive in Orlando, three men were arrested after deputies said they found them with a circular saw trying to cut into the store's safe. Ricardo Robles, 23; Richard Rojas, 19; and Edwin Caraballo, 19, were arrested in the burglary, the Sheriff's Office said.

In Indian River County, two Tampa men were found inside a porch at a house that had been shuttered, authorities said.